“I would proudly recommend this organization as a good place to work to a friend or relative.” – Research conducted by Avatar Solutions shows that engaged employees show a far greater willingness to recommend their employer within their close network, whether as an employer or provider of goods/services.  This survey question has a strong positive correlation with engagement and may not only help you to determine whether your employees are engaged, but also whether they exhibit behaviors that give your organization a competitive advantage.

“My job gives me an opportunity to do the things I do best.” – Perhaps more than ever before, employees care deeply about their ability to experience personal and professional self-actualization in the workplace, which makes this one of the best survey questions you can include on your employee survey.  Organizations or teams achieving low scores on this survey question should consider ways they can increase role alignment with employees’ skills, including expanding responsibilities and stretch activities for workers who have shown themselves willing and able to take on more.

“My coworkers are friendly and helpful.” – While it is perhaps easy for managers to dismiss employees’ satisfaction with their coworkers as a consideration demanding less attention than other matters, research has shown that the strength of an employee’s relationship with her colleagues is predictive of her relative willingness to seek career opportunities elsewhere.  All other things being equal, a high-performing employee with friends in the workplace is generally less likely to leave voluntarily than an employee with weaker social bonds adhering them to their team.  As such, this question ranks among the best survey questions.

These are just a few of the questions we often recommend our clients utilize when measuring employee engagement, satisfaction, or the state of a client’s organizational culture.  Items like these appear on Avatar Solutions’ Employee Surveys, each of which, beyond our standard survey questions, includes space for the client to select a number of supplemental questions of their choosing, to ensure their interests and goals for the survey program are being met.  Ultimately, the best employee survey is the one that, accurately measuring employee engagement, correlates strongly with important business outcomes like turnover rates or customer satisfaction.  In this manner, Avatar Solutions’ Employee Surveys provide top value to organizations seeking to improve their workforce and business.

More often than they should, organizations rely on overheard gossip, anecdotal stories, or grapevine information when determining workers’ thoughts and perspectives.  Leadership then makes errant conclusions and changes based on hearsay.  Employees are left feeling unheard and confused, which often leads to dissatisfaction and disengagement.

To fully understand how your employees feel, you must ask them directly.  Administering employee surveys will allow your organization to gather more valid and informative data than simply relying on overheard discussions or complaints.  Responses from surveys can deliver valuable knowledge that directly affects your bottom line and fosters positive change in any or all of the following ways:

Understanding why you should survey and what information surveys can provide is the first step toward improving employee engagement at your organization.  You must then design a survey that asks the right questions in order to create effective improvement plans.  Find out next week what types of questions will provide the most actionable data.

Defining Employee Engagement

Engaged employees share a strong desire to be part of the value that an organization creates.  These employees feel a strong emotional bond to the organization that employs them and choose to exert discretionary effort to provide better outcomes for the customer and the organization.  Engaged employees are committed to improving and have a desire to own and improve their personal engagement.

Levels of Engagement in the Workplace

At Avatar Solutions, we believe there are three levels of employee engagement: Actively Engaged, Ambivalent, and Actively Disengaged.  Actively Engaged employees always go above and beyond in the work they do and are highly committed to the mission, vision, and values of the organization.  Ambivalent employees tend to work just as hard as they need to get by, and are not likely to volunteer for extra assignments or have strong spirit or enthusiasm.  Actively Disengaged employees bring a negative energy to the workplace, do not focus on creating positive outcomes, and can be a drain on their organization.  According to Avatar Solutions’ National Normative Database, comprised of 3.3 million employees from 2,400 organizations, only 29 percent of employees are Actively Engaged, while 59 percent fall into the Ambivalent category and 12 percent can be categorized as Actively Disengaged.

Engagement’s Impact on Customer Satisfaction

Employee engagement has a significant impact on customer satisfaction.   Engaged employees are motivated by an environment that always focuses on creating a positive customer experience, and are 3.5 times more likely to believe employees at their organization genuinely care about the customer.  In fact, there is a correlation between customer satisfaction and employee engagement to the .85 coefficient.  This correlation does not suggest causation, but instead shows that as employee engagement improves, customer satisfaction tends to improve as well, and vice versa.

Employee Engagement and Quality of Work

Engaged employees also tend to work harder and produce higher quality work than disengaged employees.  Avatar Solutions’ research has found that engagement is also positively correlated with performance ratings, meaning that engaged employees tend to receive a higher performance rating.  These high performing employees make up the backbone of any organization they work for.

Improve Employee Retention through Engagement

Turnover is a huge drain on employers and the economy, with the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reporting that 1.5 to 2 million employees voluntarily chose to leave their jobs each month. Each employee who resigns tends to cost between 16 to 20 percent of his or her annual salary to replace. By focusing on engagement, organizations are much more likely to retain their top employees and therefore save money.[1]  Engaged employees are 3.5 times more likely to stay with their employer and are four times more satisfied with their jobs.

Building Engagement in Your Organization

Now that we know how important building employee engagement is, how can you build it at your organization?  We will be launching a new blog series on how to increase employee engagement.  Check back soon for tips, best practices, and a focus on the individual key drivers of engagement.

Early into the year, many of my peers had already enjoyed a glut of show-stopping performances and the equally dismal outings comprising Spring Training in Arizona and Florida. The quality of the athletics in demonstration have supported the notion that “Spring Training performances are never as good as they look or as bad as they appear,” a truism recently ascribed by sportswriter Hal Bodley to the Phillies’ late general manager John Quinn (1). Meaning, I gather, that we can’t predict the outcome of a season based on individual training performances – though many among us will try.

But imagine a season without any training or practice at all. What would it look like? Even if you can’t judge a season by its exhibition games, training is without a doubt one of the most important components of a team’s annual crusade for the pennant. The same is true in any workforce, whether your business is manufacturing, healthcare, gaming, or financial services. All employees need practical, ongoing training in order to succeed at what they do. And it’s not just a matter of skills acquisition and knowledge transfer.

Just like in sports, training offers employees an opportunity to get amped up about what they do – to cultivate a mindset in which they can execute with alacrity and enthusiasm. In fact, research by Avatar Solutions has shown that training and professional development is one of the top drivers of employee engagement. And yet responses to Avatar Solutions Employee Surveys show that 21% of employees are not satisfied with the level of training they receive.

To help employees achieve the high levels of engagement to which many aspire, business leaders can take a page from the Major League Baseball playbook and institute programs of training that occur on an ongoing basis, with meaningful frequency. This doesn’t necessarily call for expensive learning modules and formal classes – although these resources may be the right choice for some organizations.  Rather, organizations can encourage and empower their managers to provide on-the-job training and development opportunities to employees as they perform their regular job functions.  Taking inspiration from America’s national pastime, here are just a few of the ways to build training into your employees’ work week:

Great coaching begets great performance. Coaching is something everybody needs but that few companies do systemically. Yet, when we were children we had coaches in our parents, in Little League we may have had a coach, and in high school and college had access to excellent teachers and academic advisors. So why does the coaching end when the paycheck begins? If an organization does not have an established program or process for providing coaching to employees, facilitate the coaching experience by encouraging your team to seek out a coach among senior staffers. HR can provide assistance by setting an expectation that senior-level employees spend an hour each week mentoring junior staff. The organization can provide senior leaders with a small stipend for coffee with employees, or lunch, and model behaviors by demonstrating effective methods for identifying and communicating with a potential coach, as well as responding to an employee request for mentorship.

Stick to the playbook – most of the time. Checklists and step-by-step process descriptions are useful for all employees, especially those who are new to the job or who perform a given task only occasionally. To assist your team in developing facility within their job functions, create training and how-to documents for performing the important tasks handled by your team. Ask that all stakeholders contribute to and review the checklists, so that the most effective methods for completing an assignment are represented. Reflecting on tasks and participating in the creation of the documents will help solidify employees’ job knowledge, as well as build their confidence in the skills they have acquired. Once checklists have been created and utilized for some time, establish a process for recommending updates to the documents. While it is important to “stick to the playbook” overall, encouraging employees to innovate and develop better methods for completing tasks is vital to their engagement and the success of your team.

Get tenured employees involved in onboarding. When a new pitcher is added to the team roster, they’re often paired off with a seasoned opener or closer as a way to help them develop their skills, gain critical performance feedback, learn methods of dealing with their high-stress position, and acclimate to the team culture. In other industries, this practice is also an absolute grand slam, because it achieves several important ends in support of employee engagement. First, it provides new employees with a robust, supportive onboarding framework while taking some pressure off of the hiring manager. Second, it allows tenured employees to strengthen their own understanding of the functions they perform, as well as providing some leadership experience. Finally, and perhaps most important, it builds crucial interpersonal relationships within the team.

Whether your workplace is the baseball diamond, office suite, or production floor, training is an integral component of any high-performing team. So the next time you cheer on as the local favorite bests their arch rival – or, if you’re like me, the next time you feign interest about it around the water cooler – remember the many hours of practice and careful training that goes into a single swing of the bat. As American as baseball, the lesson is one that has universal application.

(1) http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20130321&content_id=43079868&vkey=news_phi&c_id=phi

Since individuals spend most of their time at their job, they do not necessarily want to work at a location where the policy is all work and no play.  Establishing a company-organized bracket competition provides a perfect opportunity to bring a little fun to the job.  When you create a fun culture, people will enjoy coming to work and have more positive feelings about the organization’s brand.  They will be more engaged and likely to exert extra effort, as well as more willing to positively recommend the organization as a good place to work.  Thus, incorporating fun into the day makes good business sense.

Additionally, the tournament provides a small stress relief or mental break for many employees.  Workers can check scores or discuss the tournament’s progress with coworkers when they find themselves in need of a short break from a project.  They will then be more likely to come back to the task with a renewed vigor and increased attention, ready to complete a high-quality project.

March Madness also encourages employees to connect on a more personal level with their coworkers.  Discussions about March Madness often lead to conversations about where people went to college, why they root for a certain team, or how they choose who will win it all.  Each of these small conversations provides the opportunity for people to foster closer bonds.  Since coworkers are often considered the unsung heroes of retention, it is in management’s best interest for team members to create deeper relationships with each other.  Employees will be more engaged and more likely to remain at your organization when they get to know and like their peers.

When thinking about the tournament this year, I encourage you to consider it from a different angle. If you overhear employees discussing their brackets or talking about an upcoming game, do not worry so much about their productivity levels.  Consider that these conversations will actually help your organization in the long run.

For additional March Madness lessons about employee engagement, watch our recent webinar, “March is Here: Have You Filled Out Your Engagement Bracket?”

It’s with a heavy heart that I announce my retirement from the world of office pranks.  This will probably come as a sigh of relief to my coworkers, but I like to think that my pranks will be somewhat missed.

Pranks may seem silly or like a waste of time, but they can actually have a positive impact in the workplace when kept light, fun, and of course, injury-free.  Sure, as a veteran prankster, I’m always looking over my shoulder, paranoid that the numerous coworkers I’ve victimized over the years may lurch towards me like zombies and retaliate together—but that’s the risk I’m willing to take for the benefits.

Amusing pranks can help build a fun workplace culture, which Avatar’s research has found to have a positive correlation with employee engagement.  This means that when levels of fun increase, employee engagement is also likely to increase, leading to positive business outcomes like reduced turnover, increased productivity, and higher revenue.

Pranking can also help facilitate creative thinking, which is extremely important in today’s workplace. There’s something about mixing a stapler and jello crystals into boiling water that brings fresh perspective to a nagging problem. Additionally, pranking can lead to a greater sense of camaraderie, which positively impacts coworker relations, and in turn, employee engagement.

Pranking may also relieve workplace tension. I can prank my nemesis and everyone thinks it’s hilarious and innocent…but my frenemy and I know it’s not.

Me: “Haha, isn’t this sooooo funny, bestie?”

Me (secretly): “You finished all the printer toner so I put glue in your hair!” And then I accidentally cackle out loud.

Just kidding, of course!

Before I go, I wanted to reflect back on my career as a prankster.  Here are some of my favorite pranks from my time at Avatar:

Taken: A Pony Story

A coworker and I kidnapped the office manager’s My Little Pony figures from her desk. We photographed the blindfolded ponies, sent a ransom note and even attempted to frame an innocent bystander for the heinous crime. Our demands for Oreo balls and a bag of glitter were eventually met. The treats were quickly devoured and the glitter was later used to glitter-bomb a departing employee.

To Pony Owner. We have little pony. Pony is safe. We want Oreo balls and glitter bag. Deliver to mailbox of David W. Miller. No funny business. Call cops, pony die. After delivery, pony will be return.

Deck the Halls with Toilet paper

‘Twas the week between Christmas and New Year’s, and the office was especially quiet because so many employees were on vacation.  Some of us had cabin fever, and so we naturally decided to toilet paper our coworkers’ office.  What a great surprise for them when they returned from vacation! 

Turning Over a New Leaf

Now that my days of office pranking are over, I will try to recreate the benefits of pranking elsewhere. Maybe I’ll bond with coworkers by engaging in actual conversations about their amazing pet/child/spouse. To facilitate creative thinking, I’ll chain-smoke and wear skinny ties like Don Draper.

The vlookup wasn’t working because I forgot to put a bracket at the end! Thanks, skinny tie.

(Photo courtesy of http://www.thefastertimes.com)

Worst of all, I’ll have to make do with sending passive-aggressive emails to my frenemy. “I noticed that the documents you provided are in Arial instead of the standard Calibri. Please revise and resend,” I’ll write.

Or maybe, just maybe this article is the ultimate prank and one day I will strike on my unsuspecting coworkers—I do have half a bag of glitter left.

Zehra Kazmi is a Data Analyst at Avatar HR Solutions.

I find this statistic off putting, not because of the implications for card companies and makers of cloying sweets, but because it’s unnerving to see so many otherwise sensible people willingly forgo an opportunity to act young and foolishly.

I propose that the utility of Valentine’s Day need not be restricted to spurring inane fun, preventing domestic strife, or to challenging your ability to recall important dates.  Valentine’s Day can also help you reconnect with and honor the people and things you love.  Like a partner or your job!

If you’re one of the 29 percent of employees who are engaged at work, you’re probably already doing a great deal to honor your job.  You may not even realize it, but you are.  From our work conducting Employee Engagement Surveys for thousands of organizations, Avatar HR Solutions has identified the behaviors through which engaged employees often demonstrate their love of their organizations and jobs.  The following represent just a few that I’ve witnessed recently.  For an extra special Valentine’s, try incorporating these behaviors into your day:

Smile!  Employees who love their job smile because they’re happy.  Their happiness, in turn, can have a profound impact on customers, both internal and external.  The power of the smile and its connection with engagement was revealed to me recently during a conversation with Rodger Brown, Vice President of Human Resources at North Mississippi Health Services (NMHS), an Avatar HR Solutions client and Malcolm Baldrige Award winner. Brown explained that smiles are so important at NMHS, they’re actually a part of the organization’s value system.

“When you go to any of our facilities, you see the smiles,” said Brown, who will speak at the 2013 Avatar Symposium in May. “You can look at an employee and see that they are engaged. And you know that the patients are seeing the same thing.”

On Valentine’s Day and every day, be mindful of the frequency with which you smile.  Take the initiative to smile at coworkers and at your customers or patients.  Like the team at NMHS, you’ll be honoring your love for your work, as well as paying the happiness forward.

Work hard!  Employees who love their job often work harder and perform better than those who are disengaged.  This is partly because engaged employees feel accountable to their organization, their manager, and their peers, and their work reflects that sense of personal responsibility.

To honor your job, put a little extra effort into your work, even if you’re already used to giving one hundred and ten percent.  Consider taking on an extra voluntary project or helping out a coworker.  You’ll feel a wonderful sense of accomplishment, and your colleagues will appreciate your efforts on the team’s behalf.  Not least of all, Avatar HR Solutions has found that high levels of employee engagement correlate with increased profitability.  Some Valentine’s gift!

Support yourself!  In the tradition of self-starters, employees who love their job tend to take personal responsibility for their satisfaction with work.  They proactively ask for feedback on their performance and implement that feedback to improve outcomes.  With their supervisor, they discuss concerns that impact their engagement and suggest workable solutions.

On Valentine’s Day and beyond, become a co-owner of your own engagement.  Make a list of the top three things that hinder your engagement, and the top three things that contribute most to it.  Then share this list with your manager and talk about ways you can mitigate the detractors, while enhancing your positive work experiences.  You simply cannot give yourself – or your supervisor – a greater gift than taking personal responsibility for your sense of well-being and development.

Conclusion

Even on Valentine’s Day, “getting engaged” doesn’t need to entail a terrific outlay on jewelry and taffeta.  Taking steps to support your own engagement, and that of your peers or employees, can be a simple, enjoyable affair that enhances your feelings of personal and professional connection with your job.  And in any labor market, a little love for your work is a very good thing.  Because, as a wise Captain and his first mate once said – “Love will keep us together.”

[1] http://www.history.com/interactives/valentines-day-by-the-numbers

The symphony of flu season is in full crescendo.  Although the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention indicates flu season typically peaks during January or February in the United States, the 2012/2013 season has already garnered much attention, starting earlier than in many recent years.

Flu season can have a drastic impact on the workplace.  Absenteeism reaches a high, as individuals are either out sick due to personal illnesses or caring for children and other family members with the virus.  Additionally, it seems that when one person in an office gets sick, it won’t be long before others also come down with something.  Productivity may suffer as a result of employees missing work unexpectedly, resulting in bottlenecked projects or missed deadlines.  Individuals who remain healthy may experience stress or burnout from heavier workloads as they take on the work of coworkers who are out of the office.

During periods when illness is prevalent, flexible work policies can dramatically reduce the negative impact of employee sickness.  Viruses and bacteria tend to spread through the office like wildfire.  When individuals are in close proximity, it is easy for germs to spread.  Often, employees are encouraged to stay home if they feel there is any chance they are infected with the flu or another virus, in order to prevent others from catching the same illness.  However, many employees do not want to use their sick days or paid time off, so they disregard the message and come to work despite showing certain symptoms.  Implementing a flexible work policy will decrease the likelihood of flu or cold outbreaks in the office, as employees will likely be more willing to work remotely rather than “waste” a sick day.

When it comes to minor colds or simply feeling a little under the weather, employees sometimes want to work, but the only factor truly holding them back from going in is the daunting trek to get to the office.  If given the opportunity to work from home, many employees would take this option rather than taking a sick day.  Productivity would be less likely to decrease as a result, especially given the fact that 53 percent of working adults believe they get more work done when they have the ability to work from home¹, resulting from decreased interruptions and commuting times, among other factors.

Flexible work policies also contribute to the prevention of illness.  When schedules are malleable, work/life balance increases, reducing stress that results from trying to balance personal and professional obligations.  Since stress takes a toll on the body and could contribute to illness, reducing stress is an important way to keep employees healthy.  Adjustable schedules also allow team members to schedule check-ups or appointments to maintain their health or get the flu shot, thus contributing to a reduced chance of spreading the virus.  People may also get more sleep, exercise more, or participate in activities they enjoy outside work, further contributing to prevention, as well as reducing burnout which may result from heavier workloads.

Apart from simply reducing the spread of illness, flexible work schedules also promote the attraction and retention of top talent.  According to research conducted by Mom Corps, a professional staffing firm, 61 percent of employees think variable work options are important when searching for a new job, and 45 percent of adults are willing to give up some percentage of their salary for more flexibility.  Thus adjustable work policies are a good decision not only when risk of illness is high, but all year.

Flexibility will be different depending on the needs of each particular organization.  It’s important to examine how different work arrangements can function for each person and to maintain fairness when crafting protocols.  With the right policies in place, flexibility can positively impact business outcomes, despite extenuating circumstances such as the flu.  Flexibility could provide the perfect “medication” for the effects of illness in the workplace.

¹Mom Corps 2012/2013 survey, “2012 Labor Day Survey”

January can be a really tough month for employees.  Without the holiday season to look forward to, all of the gloomy weather can really affect your mood.  In fact, the lack of natural sunlight can actually cause people to develop Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), a type of depression that can cause fatigue, lack of interest, and trouble concentrating.  About five percent of the population tends to suffer from SAD each year, with up to twenty percent of people experiencing at least one symptom. [1]

If you believe your mood and job performance are being affected by the winter blues, there are several ways to alleviate your symptoms, both inside and outside of the workplace.  Below are five tips for beating the winter blues at work:

1.                   Change up your Environment

Sometimes the problem can stem from your work environment itself.  Is there any natural light in your workspace?  If not, consider purchasing a sunlamp – or, if your blinds are closed, open them!  Natural lighting can have a major impact on your mood.  If these aren’t options for you, try to use your breaks to go outside and get some fresh air at least once a day.

2.                   Set a Goal – And Reach It!

According to Avatar HR Solutions’ National Normative Database, 72 percent of employees agree that their job gives them an opportunity to learn new skills.  Are you taking advantage of that opportunity?  Setting a goal to learn a new skill in the workplace can help to make your work day more interesting as well as improve your focus.  Set a goal that is actually attainable and figure out how you can reach it.  Completing a goal can boost your self-esteem, which should further decrease the winter blues.

3.                   Take Care of Your Body and Mind

You know all of those resolutions people made at the beginning of the month to be healthier?  Exercising and eating right can not only help your body become healthier, but also keep your mind healthy as well.  Exercise releases endorphins, which improve mood, as well as increase blood flow, which can impact concentration.  Low on time?  Try taking a brisk walk during your lunch break or using the stairs instead of the elevator at work.  Every little bit helps!

4.                   Bring Fun into the Workplace

You’ve probably heard it said that laughter is the best medicine.  This is especially true for people suffering from SAD, since laughter causes the brain to release endorphins and improve mood.  Bringing laughter and fun into the workplace can have a major impact on employee wellness and productivity, yet according to Avatar HR Solutions’ National Normative Database, only 62 percent of employees believe their organization makes an effort to create a fun work environment for employees.   Looking for ways to make work fun?  Consider hosting an employee appreciation event such as a pot-luck lunch, a board game party, or have a movie day in the conference room.  These are inexpensive ways to insert fun into the day without taking away much time from the work day.

5.                   Find Something to Look Forward To

Part of the problem with these long winter months is that there isn’t anything exciting on the horizon.  The holiday season is over and the summer months are still so far away.  Planning a trip or even just to take a day or two off of work can really help to improve your mood because they give you something to look forward to.  Dreaming about a Spring Break trip may be just the trick to beat the winter blues.

Until the sun comes back for good, I hope these tips help you to make the most of the remainder of winter.  Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to go for a jog, buy some new lighting for my office, and plan my next vacation!

That’s change on the horizon for your employees and organization. Are you ready to help them embrace it?

Well, the end of the Mayan calendar came and went late last year, and many of us were relieved to find that much is the same as it was before.  The earth still orbits the sun, coffee and pizza remain as delicious as ever, and we are heartened to observe unemployment rates inching slowly downward. 

But if there’s anything we’ve learned from apocalyptic prophesy, recent global weather patterns, and the specter of the “fiscal cliff,” it’s that 2013 is likely to be a challenging year for many Americans. In particular, ongoing tax reform and roll-out of Obamacare may have weighty implications for the average worker.

Facing these likelihoods, Human Resources executives planning for the year ahead must be ready to assess and communicate potential changes to employee benefits and take-home pay, so that unpleasant surprises do not occur and employee engagement levels can remain high.

The Fiscal Cliff and its Aftermath

President Obama and top economists have acknowledged the need for further reform of taxation and government spending in order to address the soaring national debt. According to Workforce magazine, experts predict that tax reform in 2013 could reduce the maximum pretax amount employees are permitted to contribute to 401(k) retirement accounts, thereby increasing the taxes paid by workers. While this would not decrease the monies employees have available to address the day-to-day costs of living, any such measure could affect their ability to save for retirement. Understandably, employees will be concerned and are likely to have questions.

Sea Change in Healthcare

Meanwhile, business leaders across the nation are poised to respond to the roll-out of Obamacare, with many organizations already investigating alternatives to their current employee benefit offerings. According to the Wall Street Journal, some organizations may opt out of providing employee healthcare insurance, because the penalty for not doing so would be less in many cases than the cost of covering employees. Other employers are considering cutting back on the number of full-time workers they employ, or raising employees’ premium contributions. Whatever tactic is chosen, your approach to communicating benefits changes will determine whether employees are able to understand and accept them.

Communicating Change

When communicating significant change, utilizing a blend of methods is advisable. Whenever possible, incorporate live, interactive communications, such as town hall–style meetings, into your strategy.  Live meetings allow employees to see the human side of the change—your tone and body language can convey compassion and encourage togetherness, which are harder to get across in written communications. Provide employees with an opportunity to ask questions, and encourage managers to hold smaller group “huddles” after the meeting, so employees can raise concerns they may not feel comfortable sharing in a larger group setting.

When change involves pay or benefits, providing written notification may be required by law, but in any case it is highly recommended. Written notification gives employees a resource they can digest at their own pace, and which they can return to as need arises. Ideally, written communications should be concise, address all pertinent/actionable points, and reflect a neutral, unbiased tone. Written communications may also encourage employees to approach their manager or Human Resources with any questions they may have. Finally, use your annual employee survey or pulse survey to assess the efficacy of your communication strategy and adjust accordingly.

Revisiting Value

Whether change is the result of internal decision-making or the influence of external pressures on the organization, employees are likely to view developments concerning their paychecks or benefits as impacting the employee-employer value proposition. To support employee engagement, it may be wise for employers to try to rebalance the proposition through low-cost initiatives and resources available to them. If, for instance, your organization must switch to a high-premium insurance option from a lower-premium plan, consider holding free annual wellness clinics for employees. Or if tax legislation significantly decreases take home pay, look into low-cost financial seminars that can help employees do more with less. While certainly no magic bullet, these efforts, when effectively communicated, can help employees to see that their employer cares about them and takes seriously the responsibility to provide fair value to employees.

In Sum

The coming year need not be one of gloom and doom, but it surely holds challenge in store for everyone—from the line-level worker up through the C-Suite. But isn’t that what work and growth are all about? With the right combination of careful planning, robust communication, and a little elbow grease, Human Resources executives can steer their organizations through difficult change so that their organizations aren’t better in spite of those changes, but because of them. That’s what I call a positive, productive, and very happy New Year.